Introduction

Reading has been the predominant country end destination for the 458s class for the majority of their service lives. At Reading they are outnumbered by noisier and smellier trains, as can be seen below on June 29th 2006 with 8010 arriving at platform 4a in parallel with First Great Western Class 43 power car 43177 "University of Exeter" leading a High Speed Train formation in "Barbie" colours into platform 4.

8010 approaching platform 4a at Reading

8023 in platform 4a at Reading

A full
detailed history of the Class 458 with South West Trains appeared in the October edition (number 212) of Live Rail, the bi-monthly members magazine of the
Southern Electric Group. If you would like to join the SEG including to receive Live Rail, please click here for details. This is a brief overview of both the class as a whole and of each
unit. These pages are being written as history unfolds and they will therefore be updated
periodically. Note that the majority of this history has been compiled from contemporary
reports that may not have been 100% accurate, though every effort has been made to
reconcile noticed inconsistencies.

That this comparatively small class of
30 units has been embroiled in controversy throughout their short lives can only be a
negative testament to the commercial and political climate of the modern railway.
That twenty eight modern EMUs no more than seven years old and only used in service
between three and six years could be proposed to be withdrawn from service and placed into
store defies common sense. That a number of these units continued to run beyond South West Trains'
own deadlines and then a regulatory deadline further emphasises the machinations that go
on. Then, once sufficient new class 450 Desiros
are running, the class is finally withdrawn, but a new cost cutting business plan
consequent upon South West Trains retaining the franchise called for these units to be restored to service
with favourable new leasing terms. This is the latest twist in this tortured
story.........

This batch of thirty class 458
units was South West Trains first move towards replacement of its Mk1 mainline EMUs and was a
commitment additional to its then current franchise. Rolling stock leasing company (RoSCo)
Porterbrook, which had recently
been acquired by the Stagecoach Group, placed the order with Alstom,
it is thought at least in part to allay both industry and political concerns of such a
holding group owning interests in Train Operating Companies (TOCs)  one of which is South West Trains -
and a RoSCo. Given that the leasing charges on the class 458 have been higher than those
on the Desiro units which replace them, just which part of the Stagecoach Group got the better
part of the deal is now a matter of historical debate! (The Stagecoach Group later sold
Porterbrook.)

The class 458 is from Alstoms Coradia/Juniper family of
multiple units which also includes classes 175, 180, 334 and 460. Like Network
SouthEasts Networker "family of units" concept it was a range of British
units never to flourish. The units were built at Alstoms Washwood Heath works, formerly Metro-Cammel, which had a
long established reputation for designing and building serviceable rolling stock. However
the times at which Junipers were being designed and built were not the happiest at
Washwood Heath and it is said that insufficient attention was paid to manufacturing
quality control.

These units were also being
designed and constructed at the same time as the details Railway Vehicle Accessibility
Regulations (RVAR) part of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 were being
formulated. The licence for the class was granted on the basis that an exemption from the
regulations yet to be ratified would only be granted for operation by South West Trains and
for the duration of the original lease (to 28th February 2006).

The above three elements were set to seal the fate for the class.

Introduction to service was
slow. This was due in part to going through the intricate process of getting type approval
from (then) Railtrack  a situation slowing the introduction of all new rolling stock
at the time. However, from the very start these units proved to be unacceptably
unreliable. Significant problems affected the unit end gangways, software,
air-conditioning, ride quality, auxiliary converters and couplers. Units spent significant
periods out of service and required multiple visits to various Alstom works for modifications and
rectification. Reliability did not reach a creditable level until late 2004 following a
software upgrade and the computer system being made more immune from voltage drops during
acceleration. It appears that the operation of unit end gangways had not been specified
tightly enough. As a result they were designed for units to be semi-permanently coupled
whereas South West Trains had an expectation, as with long Southern tradition, of units regularly being
coupled and uncoupled in service. Not only did it take up to 30 minutes to join the
gangways mechanically but also the computers had to be rebooted and establish
communication with each other. As a result, having working gangways between units was
quickly dropped. However, the design of the unit end resulted in water ingress to the
driving cabs, a problem which even after modifications has never been entirely been
eradicated.

To give some idea of the
protracted timescale, the first unit, 8001, was delivered in October 1998, the first units
to enter passenger service (8004+8005) did not do so until February 2000. There were not a
significant number of units in service until October 2002 which is also when the final
unit, 8030 was delivered. The last unit did not enter service until May 2003. Upon having
its franchise renewed in 2001 South West Trains demonstrated its confidence in the British rolling
stock industry by announcing that the competing German Siemens
"Desiro" range would be their bulk choice for slam door replacement stock.

Although originally intended
to be operated on semi fast services in the Waterloo-Reading-Alton triangle, class 458
running was concentrated on Waterloo-Reading services. These units carried traditional
Southern four digit unit numbers and wore the white and blue South West Trains colour scheme that was subsequently to be designated as the "mainline" livery,
the 458s being outer-suburban units with 3+2 seating in standard class.

South West Trains ceased diagramming these units with the change to the December 2005 timetable and
thereafter they ran on shadow diagrams. Their lease expired on February 28th
2006 and South West Trains continued to operate them on a pay-per-use basis having been given an extension
to the DDA exemption until 31st July 2006. As the additional seventeen Class 450 units, due in part to
cover the withdrawals of 458s, had not started to be delivered by the summer, South West Trains applied for a further extension to the exemption to the end of their franchise (February
2007) but this was refused. South West Trains then announced that they would cease to operate the
class on June 30th but use of up to three pairs of 458s on weekdays continued
throughout July. Then in a surprise
development, 8020 and 8029 had new DDA compliant passenger information displays fitted,
though such displays are not the only factor in which the units are non DDA compliant. South West Trains announced that
three pairs of units would continue to run three diagrams (see below) until further
notice. A pool of eight units used regularly emerged during August - 8013, 8018,
8019, 8020, 8021, 8028, 8029 and 8030. All had been fitted with new 40mm DDA
compliant passenger information displays.

These diagrams ceased to be worked by
class 458 units at the end of September but resumed on October 16th. For details of
units running between August and the December 10th timetable change please click here.

South West Trains initially sent some of its 458 units to Bournemouth TM&RSD to be prepared to be
returned to the leasing company, thereafter it was intended for them to be placed into
secure store. However, no units returned to Porterbrook. All units at Bournemouth were transferred back
to Wimbledon to be re-activated. Additionally, 8001 and 8002 sub-leased to Gatwick Express but never ran in
passenger service, returned to South West Trains on the 15th December. As in the
introduction, South West Trains has taken these units back onto lease on more favourable terms as part of
a cost-cutting fleet cascade to run Waterloo-Reading and Guildford-Ascot services.
From 10th December the number of weekday diagrams worked by this class increased from six
to sixteen with eighteen units in service. The number of diagrams increased to
twenty two from the 2nd January 2007.

Ahead of the timetable change, in early
December at least two units, 8006 and 8026, - not from the pool of eight - were noted to
be back in service. By 18th December 2006 only 8001, 8002, 8004,
8007, 8008, 8009, 8010, 8011, 8014, 8017, 8022 and 8027 (i.e. 18 units in service for 16
diagrams) had not been returned to service. By 24th February 2007 only 8001, 8002, 8004, 8011 have not returned to service,
however the reliability of the 26 units in service has not been to SWT's expectations and there were cancellations and short formations.

458 units have now been given an
exemption until 31st December 2010 in respect of the following non-RVAR compliant items:

Door buttons 300mm too high

No door step illumination

Doorway handrails incorrectly positioned

Disability accessible lavatories the wrong shape

Two non regulatory modifications have been done. Sanders have been fitted to all
units with control from the cabs. There is now a TMS reset button in the cab so that
onboard systems can be restarted without tripping the whole unit out and back in again.
Additionally, 8005 has been noted as having a modification the internal door of its
extending corridor gangway. This door now has a window whereas
previously it was solid.

On 24th November 2006 the trailer standard of unit 8011 was
taken from East Wimbledon Depot by road for experimental modifications to its
universal (i.e. disability accessible) lavatory as an attempt to address a further RVAR
non-compliance issue. This vehicle returned to Wimbledon on 23rd February 2007 but 8011 did not re-enter service until 1st May, the penultimate unit of the class to do so. It is believed that further members of the class will receive such a modification.

In early March 2007 gangway connections back came into use but could only be split in depot, not whilst in operational use. It is believed 8021 + 8027 were the first coupled pair. The gangway connections can also only be used by staff as the doors into the cab vestibule are not RVAR compliant, there is a step up to get into them and they are long and unlit. However, not all class 458 diagrams are for 8 cars and in April it became apparent that the fleet was being operated with a target (rather than a clearly defined sub-fleet) of eight units not semi-permanently coupled. These eight units may still be operated coupled in service but with their gangway connections out of use.

By May 1st 2007 only 8004 had not been re-introduced to service. It was first noted back running in passenger service on 19th July and it had received modifications to fit door well lights (for RVAR compliance) and CCTV. Subsequently other members of the class received these modifications.

The entire fleet of Junipers is to be "refreshed" at Bournemouth T&RSMD over a two year period. This work will feature CCTV, new seats and tables in first class, an internal repaint and on units not already modified installation of RVAR compliant lavatory and door lights. Whilst being refreshed the units will also undergo a C4 overhaul which involves removal for inspection and replacement if required of wheels, axles and suspension - the ride quality of Junipers having been criticised since new. It is expected that each unit will take a fortnight with one unit being done at a time. The pilot unit for the refreshment is 8006 went to Bournemouth on 10th December 2007 and returned to Wimbledon on 17th June 2008, so taking much longer that two weeks.

During October 2008 trials of regenerative braking were undertaken between Weymouth and Dorchester South or Wareham using 8027 as the calibration unit and at times 8002 or 8029 or Gatwick Express Juniper 460001 on passing tests, along with 3 Cig 1497 and 4Vep 3417 as static units.

Unit Specification:
Steel-built. Three vehicles in the formation are motored with two Alstom ONIX 800 270kW
motors per car. The fourth vehicle is a trailer with the facility for a pantograph
installation. Maximum speed is 100mph. They have the facility for both disc and
regenerative braking. These vehicles can only work in multiple with other members of their
class, thus repeating the inflexibility when class 508 units were first introduced on the
Southern Region. The units are formed driving motor composite (DMC(A)), pantograph (not
fitted) trailer standard (PTS), motor standard (MS) and driving motor composite (DMC(B)).
The driving motor cars are 21.16 metres long and the intermediate cars 19.94. Power
operated sliding doors are fitted.

The other end of
the operation! 8020, trailed by 8023, entering platform 19 at Waterloo with the
11.42 service from Reading on 29th June 2006, 8023's last day of operation before
re-introduction in December.

photograph by Colin Duff

A shot which is
perhaps representative of the class for much of their lives until now, i.e. being
stabled! Here 8006 (with 8020 right) is in Clapham Yard on 19th June 2006.

photograph by Colin Duff

A scene which was
thought would not be witnessed for much longer - four 458 units in platforms 4a/b at
Reading. This was captured on June 29th, which was due to be the penultimate day of
service of class 458s on South West Trains. Left 8010 (nearest camera) and 8026, right
8023 (nearest camera) and 8020. 8020/8023 will be the 15.12 departure to Waterloo
(WM701/702) and 8026/8010 the 15.42 departure to Waterloo (WM703/704). Not pictured,
but the third pair of units this day were 8019 and 8018 working the WM705/706 am diagram.

photograph by
Colin Duff

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